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The Rule of Law as the Victim

Social (Dis-)Trust and the Plague of Corruption in the Western Balkans

The Western Balkans societies are flooded with corruption which negatively impacts rule of law. The causes of corruption are diverse, but this research done by our colleague Dr. sc. Mahir Muharemovic, focuses on the question of social (dis)trust as a possible cause in the Western Balkans. One of the main findings is a very strong correlation between social (dis)trust, corruption and the deterioration of rule of law in the Western Balkans.

June 4, 2021
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Cédric Puisney / flickr / CC BY 2.0 / creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

ECJ ruling on Romania. Failed „Judicial Reform“ of the PSD led former Governments

European Court of Justice rules: there is a significant need to improve the Romanian judicial laws amended between 2017-2019 by governments of the PSD

On May 18, 2021, in a long-awaited judgment, the ECJ ruled on the legal nature of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (also referred to as the "Mechanism for the cooperation and verification of Romania's progress" - henceforth: CVM) and the EU Commission's progress reports, and their binding effect for the Romanian courts. In addition, the ECJ commented on various legal changes concerning the institutional design of the judiciary in Romania, introduced by the judicial reform in 2017-2019 and heavily criticized by the public. However, a clear distinction must be made here between the phase of PSD-led governments, during which these "reforms" were decided, and that of the governments led by the EPP member party PNL. The PNL has been in government since October 2019 and rejects the PSD "reforms", currently reversing them in the parliamentary process.

Hartmut Rank, Stanislav Splavnic, Svenja Gutsche
June 1, 2021
Country Reports
Caroline Haga / IFRC / fickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 / creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Same „Game“, Different Borders

Romania as part of the Balkan route and possible further focal point of European migration policy

Recently, media attention focused on the increasingly precarious situation at the European Union’s external borders in the Mediterranean area. Yet, the dilemma of Europe’s migration policy is found at the Union’s Eastern borders as well. Once again, reception centres are overwhelmed. Once again, many migrants seek to avoid registration to be able to continue their journey to particular EU member states, such as France or Germany. Many seek shelter in abandoned houses and vacant buildings which lack access to clean water, electricity, and heating. And once again, migrants attempt to cross the frontier eluding border guards. This situation is indeed not new. It stood in the focus of attention in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in last year’s winter. But this time the "game", that is, the repeated attempt to cross the border unrecognised, is not only taking place at the notorious borders like the Bosnian one. The "game," as the migrants themselves call it when they repeatedly try to cross the border illegally until they succeed, has shifted. While the so-called Balkan route used to run mainly through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Hungary, now Romania has become part of the route. Why has Romania become another stop of the "Game" now?

Hartmut Rank, Dr. La Toya Waha
May 27, 2021
Country Reports

ALBANIA

COMPILATION OF DECISIONS OF THE HIGH JUDICIAL COUNCIL 2019 - 2020

The High Judicial Council, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, is the independent constitutional body which guarantees the appropriate functionality of the Albanian judicial system (…). As such, the Council functions as an open and cooperative institution, not only with the judiciary but also with the community of judiciary stakeholders as well as general public who expect a fair trial and a justice without delay.

May 25, 2021
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Cédric Puisney / flickr / CC BY 2.0 / creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Romania's judiciary before the ECJ

An investigation into the so-called “judicial laws”, the legality of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), and rulings of the Romanian Constitutional Court

Since joining the European Union, Romania has been in the process of evolving towards harmonization with the fundamental principles for which the EU stands. The European Commission has been supporting this process through the Cooperation and Control Mechanism (CVM) from the moment of the accession in 2007. As part of the monitoring, which was originally planned to be short-term but now lasted for almost a decade and a half, the European Commission reports annually on the progress of the member states Bulgaria and Romania with regard to the situation of the rule of law: At the moment, several cases dealing with central aspects of the Romanian judicial system are pending before the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ). In addition to an assessment of the controversial judicial reforms in Romania in 2017-2019, the question of the extent to which the CVM recommendations of the EU Commission are binding is another subject of decisions to be expected shortly. The analysis of the cases pending before the Court of Justice in Luxembourg and the applications of the Advocate General already allows for a number of conclusions to be drawn.

Hartmut Rank, Christoph Popa
March 23, 2021
Country Reports

Rule of Law Rules- Romania

New Podcast

The digitalization of the relationships between the citizen and the state is a serious challenge, which also tests the concept of "rule of law." In the digital context, new problems and new solutions may arise regarding the protection of human rights, the separation of powers in the state, the rule of law or even the independence of the judiciary. We wish to explore these topics in conversations with experts, focusing on the protection of personal data, the intertwining between law and technology or the security of automated systems (artificial intelligence). In February, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Rule of Law Programme launched the global English version of the Rule of Law Rules podcast. In March, the Rule of Law Programme South East Europe initiated a Romanian version of this podcast, produced by the regional office in Bucharest. The Romanian version aims to inform and educate the public about what "the rule of law" means and how important this concept is for the average person, to help raise awareness of the effects of this concept in everyday life. In the introductory episode, Hartmut Rank and Stanislav Splavnic discuss the objectives of this podcast, the achievements of the Rule of Law Programme in South East Europe for the past 15 years, and some things they have learned since working in Bucharest. They are even joking a bit about the similarities and differences between Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) and George Soros (1930-) or Bill Gates (1955-).

March 23, 2021
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ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF ARMED CONFLICTS: CHALLENGES AHEAD

Scientific study on environmental issues

The study in front of you sheds light on a topic that is almost always ignored: the environmental consequences of an armed conflict. Even if the war in Kosovo ended in 1999 -already more than twenty years ago - remnants of war still can be seen. The study has been prepared by authors of the "Transitional Justice Ressource Centre" and is available in English, Albanian and Serbian languages.

March 19, 2021
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The Annual Journal of the International Summer School Sarajevo (ISSS)

A publication of the Association “Pravnik” and the KAS RSPSOE

This annual publication of the ISSS deals with current issues from Rule of Law, Transitional Justice and Human Rights.

January 12, 2021
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900 days of uninterrupted siege upon the Romanian Judiciary

An overview of the recent circumstances of the Romanian Judiciary.

Publicația „900 de zile de asediu neîntrerupt asupra magistraturii române. Ghid de supraviețuire” a fost pregătită de Asociația Judecătorilor Români „FJR”, cu sprijinul KAS RLPSEE. Cititorii vor obține o percepție mai amplă în privința atacurilor asupra justiției române, după cum au fost observate în anii 2017-2019. Contribuțiile au fost pregătite de mai mulți practicieni, experți și jurnaliști. Readers will get a better understanding of the attacks on the Romanian judiciary, as witnessed in the years 2017-2019. Contributions have been prepared by several practitioners, experts and journalists.

January 5, 2021
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wikimedia/Pudelek/CC BY-SA 4.0

Belated lustration in the Republic of Moldova

A pretext to strengthen the PSRM

The current draft law for a lustration in the Republic of Moldova, in its current form, will further strengthen the politicization of the civil service and take the wind out of the sails of the efforts to fight corruption.

Stanislav Splavnic, Hartmut Rank
December 22, 2020
Country Reports
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Country Reports

Short political reports of the KAS offices abroad

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is a political foundation. Our offices abroad are in charge of over 200 projects in more than 120 countries. The country reports offer current analyses, exclusive evaluations, background information and forecasts - provided by our international staff.

Event Reports

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, its educational institutions, centres and foreign offices, offer several thousand events on various subjects each year. We provide up to date and exclusive reports on selected conferences, events and symposia at www.kas.de. In addition to a summary of the contents, you can also find additional material such as pictures, speeches, videos or audio clips.

Press Review

On a monthly basis the Rule of Law Programme South East Europe publishes a press review collecting selected articles and reports from newspapers and news portals in English and German. Giving our readers an overview over the most important developments, we focus on news reports in the areas of democracy and the rule of law. The press review covers the following ten countries, where we also implement our activities: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Romania and Serbia.

Translation of Federal Constitutional Court decisions

In order to strengthen the institutional and judicial cooperation between Germany and the countries of South East Europe, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung considers translations of landmark decision of the Federal Constitutional Court as an important step in the realm of preserving fundamental rights and liberties, safeguarding the constitutional order and applying the rule of law. All decision so far translated can be accessed in several official languages of the countries of South East Europe (PDF file and EPUB).

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